Two part knitting needle

ABSTRACT

A two-part knitting needle comprising a hook part formed with a stem and a hook, and a sliding latch part to reciprocate in a longitudinal guideway provided in said stem, the free end portion of the hook being terminated in an onrun portion to be engaged by said sliding latch part in order to prevent the latch from being deflected towards the interior of the hook part.

United States Patent 91 Peschl et al.

[ TWO PART KNITTING NEEDLE [75] Inventors: Ervin Peschl, Brna; Josef Zmatlik;

Jaromir Sedlecky, both of Praha; Vladimir Kolar, Brno, all of Czechoslovakia [73] Assignee: Statnis vyzkumny ustav textilni,

Liberec, Czechoslovakia [22] Filed: Dec. 21, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 210,367

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 22, I970 Czechoslovakia 8694-70 [52] US. Cl. 66/120 [51] Int. Cl D04b 35/04 [5 8] Field of Search 66/ 120 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,229,475 1/1966 Peschl et al 66/120 11] 3,811,299 [451 May 21, 1974 2,393,931 1/1946 Peel 66/121) 2,796,606 6/1957 Amidon C131 66/120 2,778,211 1/1957 RhOadS 66/120 Primary Examiner-Ronald Feldbaum Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Arthur O. Klein [5 7] ABSTRACT A two-part knitting needle comprising a hook part formed with a stem and a hook, and a sliding latch part to reciprocate in a longitudinal guideway provided in said stem, the free end portion of the hook being terminated in an onrun portion to be engaged by said sliding latch part in order to prevent the latch from being deflected towards the interior of the hook part.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures TWO PART KNITTING NEEDLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a two-part knitting needle comprising a hook part formed with a stem and a hook, and a sliding latch part adapted to reciprocate in a longitudinal guideway provided in said stem.

A disadvantage encountered with the hitherto used knitting needles of the type consists in that as the sliding latch part is moved into its hook closing position, it tends to deviate, due to a drag exerted thereon by the knitted fabric, towards the interior of the hook part, i.'e. beyond its proper path pointing to the tip of the hook. Moreover after the closing of the hook part, if a proper contact between the sliding latch and the hook is unsufficiently ensured, the sliding latch may, during the knockover step, slide off from the hook tip and laterally deviate off the needle axis, due to a drag of the loop stitches suspended thereon. In the two cases the loop stitches may undesirably enter the interior of the hook part and fail to be knocked over so that a thread breakage or a damage of the needle may occur, which latter has to be replaced by another one.

The purpose of the present invention and the basic object of the same is to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages and to significantly improve the two-part knitting needle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one feature of our invention we provide an improved two-part knitting needle comprising a hook part formed with a stem and a hook, and a sliding latch part adapted to reciprocate in a longitudinal guideway, such as a cavity or a channel, provided in said stem. the needle being characterised in that the free end of the hook is provided with an onrun portion to be engaged by the sliding latch, which onrun portion merges into a guiding surface for guiding that 'part of the sliding latch which co-operates with the hook, said onrun portion being embodied by inwardly bending the free end of the hook. Preferably. the latch guiding surface is formed by a protuberance provided adjacent the free hook end. the latch being terminated in a channel. In accordance with another preferred embodiment the latch guiding surface is formed by channel provided in the free end portion of the hook. The length of the latch guiding surfaceon the free hook end portion equals to at least one fourth of the overall hook part length.

In case the latch forced out from the stem guideway or cavity deviates from its path, it abuts the onrun portion. or the inwardly bent hook end which will cause the same to assume the correct position. After the hook part has been closed the latch bears upon the latch guiding surface whereby its proper contact with the hook end is accomplished.

Another advantage of the invention resides in that, due to an improved guiding of the latch, it is possible to enlarge the inner space of the hook so that in case of e.g. the so-called blind lapping, a. plurality of ends can be simultaneously lapped into the hook, thus enabling relief patterns to be formed.

To prevent the threads. as they are displaced in a large number from the hook interior on to the needle stem, from being throttled, the height of the hook threat should correspond to or exceed 'the heights the hook inner space. g

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as to its construction, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic front elevational and partially sectional view of the two-part needle according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line lI-Il in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but'illustrating an other embodiment of the two-part needle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly FIG. 1 thereof, it can be seen that the two-part needle comprises a hook part and a sliding latch part. The hook part is formed with a stem 1 and a hook 2. The stem 1 is provided with an axial cavity 3 to receive a reciprocatory shank 4 of the sliding latch part, the actual latch provided atthe free end of the shank 4 being indicated by reference numeral 5. j g

The free end portion 6 of the hook 2 is inwardly bent into the hook interior, thus forming an onrun portion 12 for the latch 5. The top face of said hook free end portion is formed with a guiding surface designed to be engaged by that part of the latch Sdesigned to cooperate with the hook 2.

In the embodiment illustrated inFlGS. l and 2 said guiding surface for the latch 5 is'formed with a protuberance or tongue 7 to be abutted by a channel or groove 8 the latch S is terminated in.

In accordance with another embodiment shown in FIG. 3 said guiding surface on the free end portion 6 of the hook 2 is formed by a notch or groove 9, the groove 9 receiving a tongue on the latch 5, as shown.

The hook 2 comprises further a throat ll of which height corresponds to or exceeds the heights of the inner space of the hook 2. I I Y a In operation, in the lapping position of the needle the latch 5 is completely received in the cavity 30f the needle steml upon which a loop stitch formed in the preceding course is suspended. The thread is lapped into the open hook '2 by being slid into a first, outer thread guiding surface 14 thereon, the thread then slipping over protuberance 7 which constitutes a second guiding surface. In the next stage the hook part is displaced downwards into-the knock-over position; the latch 5 is simultaneously forced out of the cavity 3 in the stem 1 and the freshly formed .loop stitch 10 will slide thereonto as shown in FIG. 1. Due to a drag exerted by the fabric the latch may deflect from its own path into the interior of the hook 2. As the hook part of the two-part needle proceeds'to descend, the latch 5 abuts the bent end portion of thehook 2 by which it is caused to take the correct course. After'the hook2 has been closed the latch 2 will bear upon the guiding surface of the hook 2 whereby the desirable mutual contact of the latch 5 and the hook 2 is ensured so that any lateral deflection of the latches 5 off the needle axis, due to the loop stitch drag, is prevented.

it will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a two-part knitting needle, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that from the standpoint of prior art clearly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

4 l. A two-part knitting needle comprising a hook part formed with a stem at its rear end and a hook with a free end at its forward end, and a sliding latch part formed with a rearwardly disposed shank which is arranged to reciprocate in a longitudinal guideway provided in said stem, the latch having a forward active portion which is adapted selectively to engage and cover the free end of said hook, the free end of the hook being provided with an onrun portion extending towards the interior of the hook and merging into a guiding surface for slidably guiding the active portion of the latch part thereover, said guiding surface being formed as a protuberance provided on the top of said one-fourth of the overall length of the hook part. 

1. A two-part knitting needle comprising a hook part formed with a stem at its rear end and a hook with a free end at its forward end, and a sliding latch part formed with a rearwardly disposed shank which is arranged to reciprocate in a longitudinal guideway provided in said stem, the latch having a forward active portion which is adapted selectively to engage and cover the free end of said hook, the free end of the hook being provided with an onrun portion extending towards the interior of the hook and merging into a guiding surface for slidably guiding the active portion of the latch part thereover, said guiding surface being formed as a protuberance provided on the top of said free end of the hook, said protuberance being rounded in a direction lengthwise of the needle, the active portion of the latch part being provided with a mating channel to receive and engage said protuberance.
 2. A two-part knitting needle as defined in claim 1, wherein the length of the guiding surface equals at least one-fourth of the overall length of the hook part. 